This Pizza Pizza Slice Came With A Free Tube Of Vaseline

By consumeristcareyFebruary 24, 2008

Torontoist reader Charles claims to have received a used tube of Vaseline with his bagged slice of vegetarian pizza. He wrote:

Yes, this is how the slice came: a used and soiled “Convenience Size” bottle of Vaseline moisturizer, as found in a Pizza Pizza, bagged slice of pizza; purchased in-store at 8:30PM (EST) 23 February 2008, Yonge St near Bloor St (Toronto, Canada).

Charles and his two friends thought the tube was a prank—our first reaction, too—and called Pizza Pizza to complain. They were promptly offered a free small pizza and an investigation.

How could that even happen? A hair, fine, whatever. A fake eyebrow, ok, it’s getting late. But a whole !@#$ tube of Vaseline? Seriously, how do you not notice that? Gross.

ok, how is the bottle “soiled” in this case? Sounds like the guy is writing to make it sound as bad as he could. A NORMAL way of writing it would be “There was an opened bottle of vasaline in the package.”

That’s damn sight better than some of the stuff I saw people put on the pizzas when I worked at a delivery joint in highschool. Tip: Never send a delivered pizza back because something was wrong with it.

@timmus: Pizza Pizza’s been around since ’67, and Little Caesars started using “Pizza! Pizza!” in 1979. I wonder if our close proximity (the Ilitch’s are from SE Michichan) to Canada had anything to do with the slogan, as it’s not unusual to receive Canadian television here. I grew up with Canadian television not realizing at the time that there was a difference. (Things like “homo milk” aren’t funny to me.)

I’ve got Lemon without my request, I’ve got hair (from the head) on my food. How come I’ve never get strange things when I order something? BTW It is gross! They should had given him a large pizza instead a small one.

it was open, it is clearly he fault of management, the guy in the back was wanking off instead off making pizzas, then boss came around and the freaked throwing the vaseline in the bag with his “soiled hands,” but “THIS IS ONLY A TASTE OF things to COME”

They’re not going to do anything. I had a pizza pizza driver screaming f*ck you at me while walking through my building, and never heard a thing about it after complaining to corporate. They have no control over their franchises.

I guess if more of us REALLY thought about it, when we eat out we never really know, unless we were to go into the kitchen and check it out personally, what kind of people are preparing our food or in what condition or how clean the kitchen is. Or even if the people back ther might be sick with God knows what.

At pizza pizza you watch them pick the slice, put it in the oven, take it out, cut it and put it in the bag. Why wasn’t he paying attention? Half the time they do they fish the wrong kind out of the oven and you have to point it out to them anyway.

At least the yonge and bloor location has fewer crazies than Church and Wellesley :S

Time to go to work,
Work all day,
We need porn and pizza hey!
We won’t stop until we have vaseline!
Yum tum yummy tum tay!
Time to go to work,
Work all night,
Search for porno yay!
We won’t stop until we have vaseline!
Yum tum yummy tum tay!

ok. Working and living in Toronto, and having the unfortunate experience of eating at Pizza Pizza before, I call shenanigans on this one, and here’s why:

At most Pizza Pizza locations in the city (all the outlets I’ve been to) you see the pizza slices in front of you. You choose your flavour, they heat it in the oven, then cut and bag it. This entire process occurs in front of the customer. At no time have I ever seen any employee take a slice away to cut and bag.

That is the only nice thing about Pizza Pizza; their process is out in the open for you to freely watch.

I ordered a pizza at a local place once, me and the wife were eating it in the car at night. Felt what was like hair on a slice. I turned on the dome light and there were pubes in the pizza. The wife puked, i wanted to but couldnt.

When I went back to the store I showed them the pubes (trust me they were not head hairs). They said they would only give me back the money for about 1/2 the pizza that was left in the box. They told me to be quiet, so I started to walk around showing the pube infested slice to people eating there.

I dont know what happened when I left, but everyone I showed it to agreed they were pubes and sat there stareing at their pizza they were eating.

@dualityshift: Because at no time in the transaction, reheating and bagging does a person look away. You could look at other people, a tv, a noise outside, grab a soda from the fridge, use the bathroom, or call ahead for carryout.

@cde:
First off: In the open, transparent operational concept at Pizza Pizza encourages you to keep an eye on your order. Frankly, anyone who doesn’t watch their food in this type of restaurant get what they deserve.

Second: Most Drink fridges are behind the counter at Pizza Pizza. Not to say all, but more often than not.

People who call in for carryout pizza slices are morons.

I still say this guy set this up himself to see what he could get from Pizza Pizza.

I call BS, that’s just too big an item to not be noticed upon picking up the slice. just a little too heavy and too bulky to not be noticed. I mean the box wouldn’t have shut properly (and really don’t you look to makes sure it is the right toppings and such, I know people did when I worked at a pizza joint). At the very least it should have never made it out of the store in your hands (or your friend’s hands).

@dualityshift: wow. i’m not saying this guy deserves a settlement, but to blame him is just bizarre. why? i suppose if you bit into a razor blade in the lettuce at a salad bar it would be your fault for not sorting through the entire bowl to be sure there were no hazardous objects, right? i hope you never get appointed to run your local health department.

@dualityshift: I meant pizza shops in general. Most I’ve been two have the soda fridge out front. And you can order an entire pizza at once as well. Very Innovative, I know, but change is not to be feared.

Oh, so people who order from restaurants where this happens deserve it? I hope you don’t eat anywhere except Pizza Pizza then.

@cde: Oh, so people who order from restaurants where this happens deserve it? I hope you don’t eat anywhere except Pizza Pizza then.

You missed the point completely. In fact, most of you did. If you eat at establishments like Pizza Pizza, or even McD’s, you can assume some bad things ‘may‘ happen to your food. That’s why I mostly avoid fast food joints. When did I say that people deserve this treatment. You sir, are an ass.

I still think the customer planted this at home. Let’s use some logic people. Anyone who’s eaten at Pizza Pizza can attest to the process. You order your slice, they plop it in the oven, take it out, cut it in two, bag it and give it to you. All of this done in plain sight. I do believe if your pizza had an unusual bulge in the middle of the bag, you would notice it.

Could this vaseline have come from the pizza shop? Possibly, but the more realistic truth is that these people were out partying, stopped at the Pizza Pizza before heading back home. Once they got home, the others realized they were hungry, so they tried to (and succeeded in) scamming Pizza Pizza out of a pizza. (C’mon folks! Who doesn’t take a bite out of their hot, fresh slice right away?)

Anyone who has called Pizza Pizza customer service in the last 15 years knows that if you can verify your order, they pretty much credit your account immediately.

@cde: @dualityshift: Why would you eat from somewhere you know is garbage? Oh, that’s right, your retarded like that.

I don’t eat garbage, but from what spews from your hole, it seems you had a double helping of crap sandwiches.

It’s unfortunate we have to deal with people like cde, who, it’s obvious, was shunned by his own family because of his cantankerous nature. Mom didn’t drop you on your head as a baby. She threw you, repeatedly.
/offtopic

@ironchef: It is what it is. I started snapping pics and vid of it as it happened. My only motive was/is to put a few pics of it onto Flickr for laughs (and to try and ensure they don’t repeat the mistake).

Did he blog about it? Call a consumer hotline? The police? Poison control? Try and sue? Extort money? No. He ate his pizza, had a laugh and moved on. (Remember, we’re Canadians).

Strange but not terribly exciting or complicated.

For the record: this is not a prank, hoax or attempt at suing someone; we have never bought that Vaseline product before; we were not out partying, we were looking at the ice sculptures in Yorkville when our friend got hungry; and, no, he didn’t notice the slice was 50g heavier, the bag had a bulge, and we didn’t supervise the staff making the slice.

I appreciate that many people try very hard to have a knock-out opinion in threads like this, to be the “gotcha” guy. This isn’t that kind of story, guys. Sorry.

@dualityshift: Why would he/I/we plant Vaseline of all things?? Dude!?! Seriously?? LMAO Why the hell would I want to rig my friend getting a free small pizza? The cab home cost more. That makes no sense whatsoever.

Pizza Pizza, investing a LOT of money in keeping a ‘good’ image of Canadian Fast Food, rarely argues over improper orders, late orders, and the like. If you complain to Pizza Pizza, and can verify your order, they will almost 100% of the time either refund your money by way of in-store credit, or offer free food. You may not have gotten the best product on the planet, but no one can argue that their customer service is bad.

Can we get a show of hands how many people here have called Pizza Pizza customer support? I know I have at least once for bad Pizza. The agent on the phone never argued about anything. I had ordered Hawaiian but there was no pineapple on my pizza. They credited my account and handled that credit properly when I ordered my next pizza.

I have a feeling that the bottle of vaseline may be a bit chewier than a razor blade. In any case, he doesn’t deserve a settlement because he obviously wouldn’t have eaten the pizza with an obviously visible vaseline bottle on it. Your razor blade case is a bit different. I mean shit, if the bottle had been baked under the cheese, I’m fairly certain he still would’ve noticed before biting into it.

All he should get is his money back and an apology with a promise for better service next time. He wasn’t injured by it, and if he chose to eat the pizza afterwards, then he’s obviously some sort of pervert.